Page 23 - Top MMA News and Mixed Martial Arts Headlines

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Former WSOF bantamweight champion Marlon Moraes made a big free agent splash earlier this month when he signed with UFC. Moraes was quickly booked to fight promotional mainstay Raphael Assuncao at UFC 212 on June 3 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While expectations are high for the streaking 28-year-old, Moraes is taking a slow approach to life as a UFC bantamweight contender.

The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale appears to have a women’s bantamweight bout headed for the card, including an unbeaten Invicta FC prospect.
According to reports, Aspen Ladd (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will make her UFC debut at the TUF 25 Finale against Jessica Eye (11-6 MMA, 1-4 UFC). The booking recently was reported by BJPenn.com and WMMARankings.com, though UFC officials have not made a formal announcement.
Both fighters teased news in the near future on their Twitter accounts, though. Eye promised an “epic” July, and Ladd said she would have a big announcement on Monday.

Now that Ryan Bader has left the UFC light heavyweight division behind in favor of Bellator MMA, he’ll have the immediate opportunity to step outside the boundaries of UFC’s sponsorship deal with Reebok and earn even more money. According to “Darth” himself, competing under the Bellator banner is going to allow him to make a ton of more money from sponsors.

You might not know Benson Henderson has been operating under less-than-ideal conditions for the entirety of his three-fight Bellator career.
Granted, Henderson has lost two of those three fights (against lightweight champ Michael Chandler and former welterweight champ Andrey Koreshkov), but he didn’t look like someone competing with a serious injury. That was the case, though.

Todd Duffee hasn’t been seen in a UFC fight since a first-round knockout loss to Frank Mir in the UFC Fight Night 71 headliner nearly two years ago. He hopes for that to change in the coming months, though.
Duffee (9-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC), who once was considered the future of the UFC’s heavyweight division due to his speed, power and athleticism, has been his own worst enemy over the years. Keeping healthy has been a constant battle that has allowed Duffee to fight just three times over the past five years.

Vitor Belfort will be making his last walk to the Octagon in Brazil.
The UFC is officially targeting a middleweight bout between Belfort and fellow veteran Nate Marquardt for UFC 212, which is set to take place on June 3 at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The original report was made by Combate, and was later confirmed by MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani.

There will be no slow build for Aaron Pico.
Few would blame Bellator for giving Pico a showcase fight in his pro MMA debut. One of the top prospects in the history of the sport should be booked very carefully. But Pico wasn’t having any of it — he wanted a veteran right out of the gate...

This new Mark Hunt action figure has it all: a weird waist, a womanly chest, detachable limbs and even a little “Super Samoan.”
Hunt (12-11-1 MMA, 7-5-1 UFC), a veteran heavyweight and fan favorite, is busy preparing for his UFC Fight Night 110 headliner against fellow contender Derrick Lewis (18-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC).
However, prior to the FS1-televised fight, which takes place June 11 at Vector Arena in Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, Hunt got tipped off about a new doll (sorta) bearing his likeness.
The New Zealander posed a completely fair question: “Why would u do this to me?” (via Instagram):

“As you guys have heard, champ camp just kicked off,” he told FOX Sports’ PROcast (via Twitter). “I can’t release who it is yet, but your boy is going to be fighting in July. So stay tuned for the details on that.”
With the “fight announcement to come,” we can speculate about possible events. As a champ, Woodley is likely to fight on a pay-per-view card, and right now, July offers two: UFC 213 on July 8, and UFC 214 on July 29.

LAS VEGAS – WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje is heading to the UFC, according to his now-former employers.
With the WSOF currently rebranding as the Professional Fighters League and focused on recruiting new talent for a new look in 2018, the organization elected to allow Gaethje (17-0), currently ranked No. 8 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, an opportunity to depart for the world’s biggest MMA promotion, a Professional Fighters League official told MMAjunkie.
A UFC official said Gaethje was not under contract just yet but confirmed negotiations are ongoing.

Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire will returning to the Bellator cage later this summer.
The Brazilian lightweight will be facing Derek Campos in a rematch in the main event of Bellator 181, which is set to take place on July 14 at the WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla. The news was announced by the Bellator on Wednesday.

Marcos Galvao went to Brazil on vacation following his loss to Emmanuel Sanchez at Bellator 175, and had an unpleasant surprise when he flew back home to New York.
The former Bellator bantamweight champion returned to New York on Thursday morning following a 15-day trip to Brazil, and found out that someone invaded his home and stole the money he had saved from his most recent fights.
"My house is fine, they didn’t take the TV or anything like that,” Galvao told MMA Fighting, “but they took the money I had in the safe."

A pair of undefeated prospects will meet at the Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale card in Las Vegas, NV, on July 7.
The UFC announced on Wednesday that Marc Diakiese will put his 12-0 record on the line as he takes on 7-0-1 lightweight Drakkar Klose at the T-Mobile Arena.

The UFC’s lineup for its return to Brazil in June continues to grow with the addition of a welterweight fight.
Brazil’s Luan Chagas (14-2-1 MMA, 0-1-1 UFC) is set to take on England’s Jim Wallhead (29-10 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC 212, according to a report from Brazilian news outlet Combate.com. UFC officials have not yet made a formal announcement of the booking.

A welterweight fight is the latest addition to next month’s UFC return to Sweden.
Unbeaten Englishman Darren Till (13-0-1 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC) is set to take on Germany’s Jessin Ayari (16-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) when the promotion heads to Stockholm in late May.
UFC Fight Night 109 takes place May 28 at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden. The card airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

PHIL DAVIS SET TO DEFEND LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE AGAINST RYAN BADER DURING SPIKE-TELEVISED BELLATOR 180
WRESTLING PHENOM AARON PICO TO MAKE MMA DEBUT AGAINST ZACH FREEMAN ON MAIN CARD
ALSO, NEIMAN GRACIE VS. DAVE MARFONE ADDED TO SPIKE TELECAST, WHILERYAN COUTURE-HAIM GOZALI ANCHOR BELLATOR 180 PRELIMS ON BELLATOR.COM
LOS ANGELES – The biggest night in the history of Bellator continues to grow, with the addition of Phil Davis (17-3, 1 NC) defending his light heavyweight world title against one of the promotion’s newest free agent acquisitions, Ryan Bader (22-5), during the main event ofBellator 180: Davis vs. Baderon June 24th at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The five-round contest will anchor the LIVE and FREE broadcast of Bellator 180, which airs on SPIKE. In addition, undefeated Neiman Gracie (5-0) will return to action when he meets Dave Marfone (5-2) at welterweight. This contest, along with “Mr. Wonderful” versus “Darth” Bader joins a previously announced bout pitting “The Strabanimal” James Gallagher (6-0) againstChinzo Machida (5-2).

Nikita Krylov (MMA 21-5), a popular UFC fanatic in Ukraine's Ukrainian debut, will be battling Bellator's American hero Emanuel Newton (MMA 26-12-1). The duel will take place during the Fight Nights 67, which will take place on 2 June in St. Petersburg.

Phil Davis will be making his first Bellator light heavyweight title defense later this summer, and now he has a new opponent.
The champion will now face Ryan Bader at Bellator 180 on June 24 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The news was first announced by Davis on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. Bader was originally scheduled to headline the Spike TV event against Muhammed Lawal, but “King Mo” was forced to withdraw from the card after sustaining an undisclosed injury.